


Fairly Festive

by Books_and_Blooms



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Missing Scene, Mutual Pining, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27829978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Books_and_Blooms/pseuds/Books_and_Blooms
Summary: Set in season one, between 1x07 and 1x09, Gus gives Wynonna and Waverly the task of decorating Shorty's for the holidays.  When Wynonna finds out that a certain red-haired officer was also invited, antics ensue.  There's a lot of pining, some fluff, and a little mistletoe—but nothing that would ever take away from the first kiss we got in 1x09.This was written as a post-Jack of Knives gap-filler for season one.  Rated T for some minor swearing.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 14
Kudos: 83





	Fairly Festive

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something that gave us some interaction between Gus and Nicole, or at the very least some information on how Gus knew that "life throws us surprises about what we want . . . who we want". I would have very much liked to have seen her witness something on the show that connected those dots for her. So, here you go! Also, you should have seen me trying to decipher the season one timeline! Holy cow, a lot happened between September and December 1st.

The business card was tattered now. Waverly could easily see that, even in the dull lighting of the Shorty’s stockroom. The writing was starting to fade, and the edges were starting to look ragged. The brunette ran her finger over the name and smiled to herself, remembering what Nicole had said in the hospital, the way that she lit-up, even in so much pain, as she talked about the last thing that she remembered. _Waverly Earp—smiling at me from her front porch_.

“You-ah okay there?” A gruff voice rang out from the doorway. Waverly jumped, forcing the card into the front pocket of her high waisted jeans. Gus stood leaning against the frame, eyebrow cocked, and arms crossed. 

“I’m fine . . . I . . . um . . . I couldn’t find any more whiskey,” Waverly stammered, looking anything but innocent. Gus’s eyes darted to the back wall, second shelf from the top, which housed no less than six bottles. 

“It does look like Wynonna’s got her hands on a few, but there are still plenty there,” the older woman noted, looking skeptically at her niece.  
Waverly avoided eye contact and softly stated, “I don’t know how I missed them.” 

“Well, you looked mighty distracted by whatever you were holdin’ there.” Gus held out her hand. Waverly reached into her pocket, reluctantly pulled out the card, and handed it to her aunt, blushing. “That’s our new officer, right? The one that came out to Shorty’s wake?” 

“Yeah. She came out to the homestead after Stephanie’s party, too,” Waverly said, still avoiding her aunt’s gaze. Gus nodded her head and smiled, the corners of her mouth just turning up slightly. 

“She seemed nice. You should invite her to the bar tonight. I’ve got a little project for you and Wynonna. I’m sure she could be useful, too. Why don’t you go ahead and give her a call—see if she’ll happen to be off duty,” she suggested matter-of-factly. Waverly blushed again and took the card back quickly.

“The phone is up front, on the wall beside the cappuccino maker . . . you know, in case you forgot where we keep it, too,” Gus said chuckling as she walked back to the front of the bar.

Gus dropped the box onto the counter with enough force to rock Wynonna’s whisky glass. 

“Here you go, girls. Take your mind off of your demons for a few hours and make it festive,” Gus stated, motioning in a circle, indicating the barroom. Wynonna and Waverly looked questioningly at each other and then back at Gus. 

“And when you are done, there is more in the truck, along with the tree. Get crackin’,” she stated as she went around to the back of the bar. 

“Do you honestly want to celebrate?” Wynonna asked in disbelief. With everything that they have had happen in the last four months, Christmas was the last thing on her mind. Gus made a face. 

“Wynonna Earp, you quit your sulking. We skipped Thanksgiving. Now, I’m not skipping every holiday from now until I’m dead just because we are missing a few people. Shorty never skipped decorating for Christmas, and neither are we.” 

“Uncle Curtis never skipped the eggnog,” Waverly joked, flashing Wynonna a smile. Wynonna rolled her eyes. 

“You realize that I was almost killed like a week ago, right?” Wynonna continued. The older woman threw up her hands. 

“Oh, who the hell hasn’t almost been killed in the last week? Your sister has. Nicole’s coming and I’m pretty sure they let her go straight from the ER back to the police station. Go drag the tree in and hush up.” Waverly put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. 

“I can’t believe you invited the narc. Don’t I see enough of Haught Shit at work?” Wynonna continued, only heading halfway to the door. Gus looked her up and down. 

“She is new here and she’s been through hell already. I thought maybe she could use a night out. Anything else you want to complain about?” 

“No.” Wynonna said, making a face and heading out for the tree. Waverly smiled as she pulled at the tape on the box. 

“I really think that her and officer Haught could be better friends if they just tried. You and her seemed to have hit it off easily enough,” Gus said wiping the counter. Waverly swallowed and unstuck a window cling. She could feel the tips of her ears turning red. 

“Oh, yeah. She’s very polite. Super helpful,” Waverly stammered, as she turned to stick the snowflake cling in the front window. 

“It’s good that you’re making some better-quality friends. I wish your sister would. That Dolls character seems on the up-and-up, but I still can’t say I’m fond of John Henry,” her aunt continued. Waverly let out the breath that she had been holding.

“Wynonna would have to stop harassing Nicole, and you know that isn’t going to happen,” Waverly finished, turning back around to face the older woman. 

“Well, if she’s spending all day with Randy Nedley, she has to be tough. I’m sure she can handle herself . . . and Wynonna, too.”  
_Oh, she can handle herself. She has no trouble there_ , Waverly thought, immediately becoming embarrassed. 

By the time they had started decorating the tree, the bar was getting full. A group had formed around the pool table, and there was only one seat open at the bar. Waverly had been helping but had also been watching the door every time it opened, waiting impatiently on a certain red-haired officer to arrive. 

“Earth to Waves! You want to get that garland? If not, we are going to be messing with this all damn night,” Wynonna scolded as she plugged in the lights. The bar cheered at the flash of festivity, and Wynonna waved them off. Gus chuckled from behind the taps. The door opened and an off-duty officer Haught, casually dressed, took the empty seat at the bar, closest to where Waverly and Wynonna were bickering. 

“It looks great in here,” she said to Gus as the older woman poured her a drink. Gus traced Nicole’s eyeline and noticed that she was looking at her youngest niece instead of the freshly decorated barroom. Gus cleared her throat, bringing the redhead’s attention back to her. 

“The windows look good from outside,” she stammered, realizing that she had been caught. “How long have they been fighting with the tree?” Gus looked at her, smirking. She then looked back to her nieces who were attempting to unkink the sad looking garland. 

“Oh, well, you know Wynonna. She makes everything more difficult than it needs to be,” Gus prompted, gaging the officer’s reaction.

“She’s a good person,” Nicole stated, “just hard to work with sometimes.” Gus nodded her head, happily surprised at the officer’s wording. 

“Waverly acts like she’s irritated with her sister, but she’s been happier than I’ve ever seen her since Wynonna’s been back,” Gus continued, noting the smile that formed on Nicole’s lips when Waverly’s name was mentioned. “It sure was nice of you to come by Shorty’s wake. I know it meant a lot to Waverly that you came. I don’t reckin’ she got to talk to you much with that moron hangin’ all over her.” 

“Champ’s something,” Nicole answered. She didn’t have anything nice to say about him, and the thought of him hanging all over Waverly left her feeling sick in the pit of her stomach. 

“They broke up, you know?” Gus prompted. Nicole just nodded. “I’d like her to find someone decent. Someone smart and kind. Someone that actually saw her for her, you know? She’s kinda something else.” Nicole tore her eyes away from Waverly again to look back around at the older woman, who was once again watching her every move. 

“Haught Stuff! Come help do something!” Wynonna yelled, just noticing that Nicole had come in and consequentially breaking the tension that Gus had created. Nicole hopped off of the bar stool and practically ran to start hanging ornaments, anything to get away from what was starting to feel like an interrogation. 

Gus didn’t look back at them again until she heard a whistle coming from the group by the pool table. Then she rushed to the end of the bar, looking to see which one of them she was going to have to throw out for being so crude toward one of her nieces. As it turned out, the catcall was directed at the off-duty officer, whose shirt had ridden up when she put the star on top of the tree. 

Nicole just rolled her eyes in an attempt to shake it off, but Waverly looked as though she was ready to kill, giving Pete York a death glare. Gus could see Nicole touch Waverly’s arm and mouth that “it’s fine”. Her youngest niece did not look convinced and her older niece had broken out in a fit of laughter. 

Nicole sat back down at the bar, which had started to clear out. Waverly and Wynonna followed her, sitting in the newly open seats. Waverly’s leg was immediately against Nicole’s, the closeness catching the redhead off guard. Nicole looked around for Gus, who she swore knew about her crush on the youngest Earp.

“Waves, when Gus comes back around, can you order me another drink? I’m ah . . . going to go . . . um . . . to the restroom real quick,” she said before darting off. Waverly could not make heads or tails of it. In a way, she cursed herself for thinking that she could be so relaxed around Nicole, but in another way, she was kind of impressed that she had managed to fluster the officer.

Wynonna crawled up on the bar and hung a haggard-looking piece of fake mistletoe above Nicole’s seat from the light fixture. Waverly smacked her on the arm. 

“Oh, shut up!” Wynonna hushed, “I want to see if Pete makes a move. Or Lonnie—he’s been eyeing her for weeks at the station.” Waverly’s eyes widened. She realized in that moment that she may have been the only one in that room that knew about Nicole’s sexuality. If Wynonna knew, she would never be that cruel. 

Nicole noticed the greenery immediately, pointing at it and then looking to Wynonna questioningly. 

“What the hell, Wynonna?” The officer asked fuming. She stood, hands on her hips, waiting for an answer. 

“Look, Haught. You’ve been here a while, and you haven’t found a guy yet. I’m just trying to help you out. Pete seemed interested earlier. Maybe we can get you laid by Christmas,” Wynonna said loudly, her intoxicated voice drawing a response from Pete who began to walk over. Nicole stood like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide, trying to decide how she was going to get out of this, and exactly how much time she would need to get her coat and make it to the door. She in no way wanted to make a scene.  


With her thoughts racing, Nicole almost missed Waverly climbing on top of the bar to yank down the offending plant. 

“No fair,” Pete whined, “rules are rules.” Nicole was still panicking when soft lips landed on her cheek, about an inch from her mouth. She barely had time to register what was happening before it was over and she was left in a stupor. Pete shrugged it off as he walked back to his group. Waverly tossed the mistletoe at Wynonna, who was already whining that Waverly was “a fun-sucker”. 

Nicole touched her cheek, her face still flushed, but her dimple making a distinct appearance. Waverly bit her lip. 

“I hope you didn’t mind. I just didn’t think you would want Pete to . . . you know,” Waverly explained quickly, stammering out her explanation. 

“I didn’t. You just . . . you didn’t have to do that . . . I would have just pushed him away or threatened to shoot him or something,” Nicole answered, looking down adoringly at the small brunette. 

“I know, but I just thought, that would end it and then you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Waverly continued. 

“Thank you,” Nicole said, her leg bumping Waverly’s as she spun the barstool slightly. 

“Anytime,” Waverly huffed, catching herself immediately. Nicole beamed at her slip-up. 

“Well, not _anytime_. I mean, you know I can’t just kiss you anytime, that would be . . . inappropriate. But like, you know—helping. I would help you anytime because I care about you . . . and really it was Wynonna’s fault—” Nicole cut her off by gently squeezing her hand. 

“I got it, Waves. I knew what you meant,” Nicole chuckled. It was Waverly’s turn to blush. 

Gus watched the interaction go down from around the doorframe of the stockroom. She smiled to herself and shook her head. Nicole may not have been what she was thinking for Waverly, but God, that girl was a hell of a lot better than any man Purgatory had to offer. She had never seen any guy leave her college-educated niece stammering the way that that officer did. In fact, she had never seen Waverly so enthralled by another person period. 

“Gus, can I get a refill?” Wynonna said sloppily. Gus approached the older girl and raised her eyebrow. 

“No, you cannot. You’re cut off. After that little stunt, I may not serve you again until after Christmas,” She said directly. Waverly bit her lip to hold back a laugh. Nicole shook her head and took another sip of her beer. 

“And as for you,” Gus started, gesturing towards Nicole, “Flaming Ladybug is not your color.” She handed the redhead a napkin and gestured to her cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoosh! Okay. I hope that didn't make Wynonna seem too mean. She did give poor Nicole a bit of a run for her money in season one. Hopefully, it was enjoyable! Happy Holidays!


End file.
